Ob-Ugric Institute of Applied Researches and Development, Khanty-Mansiysk, Russian Federation, solovarv@mail.ru
ABSTRACT
Introduction: the semantics of verbs in the Mansi and Khanty languages has been studied fragmentarily. Only a few articles have been devoted to the semantic structure of polysemantic words, focusing on individual verbs of destructive action, movement, and thought. This
article examines one of the key elements of the lexical-semantic group of verbs of motion – the polysemantic verb jukhәtty / jvәtta ‘to come, to arrive, to fly’ – in the Kazym and Surgut dialects of the Khanty language. It also describes the semantic structure of the corresponding Mansi verb jokhtuŋkve and compares the identified meanings. This is the first time that meanings for this verb have been proposed for the Surgut dialect. Several meanings have previously been proposed for the Kazym dialects of Khanty and Mansi; however, new data necessitates systematization of the existing materials. Semantic parallels and semantic shifts in the meanings of these verbs are described.
Objective: to identify the semantics of the polysemantic verb jukhәtty / jvәtta / jokhtuŋkve in the Ob-Ugric languages; to clarify and systematize the interpretations of the verb; to identify similarities and differences.
Research materials: sentences with the verb jukhәtty / jvәtta of the Kazym and Surgut dialects of the Khanty language, as well as the verb jokhtuŋkve of the Mansi language, collected by the author from informants and extracted from texts.
Results and novelty of the research: for the first time, the most complete list of meanings of the verb jukhәtty / jvәtta / jokhtuŋkve, which is part of the core of the lexico-semantic group of Khanty and Mansi verbs of movement, has been identified. In the semantics of this
verb, there is no indication of the environment, method and nature of movement; there is a limiting meaning that indicates the completion of the action and arrival at the destination where the person is called. The differential features of the semantics of verbs are revealed, the relationships of these verbs and the features of their compatibility, the primary and derived lexico-semantic variants of the meanings of these verbs are determined. The meanings of the verb are clarified; the semantic structure of the polysemous verb is proposed. As a result of the comparison of the verbs of the two languages, it was revealed that the main meanings of the verb jukhәtty / jvәtta / jokhtuŋkve coincide. Some verb meanings in the dialects of the Khanty and Mansi languages have special meanings.
Key words: Khanty language, Mansi language, semantics, ambiguity, lexico-semantic group, verbs of movement
Acknowledgment: the author expresses the gratitude to her informants.
For citation: Solovar V. N. Semantic structure of the verb jukhәtty / jvәtta ‘come, arrive’ in the Khanty language (against the background of the Mansi language) // Vestnik ugrovedenia = Bulletin of Ugric Studies. 2026; 16 (1/64): 100–108.